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JERSEYVILLE - After the lunch break on Thursday in the Bonnie Woodward murder case, the prosecution called Matt Davis to the stand. At the time of Bonnie Woodward's disappearance, he was a crime scene anthropologist.
Roger Carroll is accused of the murder of Woodward. Carroll, of 20758 Creek Road in Jerseyville, was charged with three felonies in two counties. He is accused of luring Woodward to Jersey County where authorities say he killed Woodward with a Stoeger Cougar 9mm Luger by shooting her several times about the body before burning her corpse and concealing it.
Davis was part of the search team that executed a search warrant on Roger Carroll property in 2010 and 2018.
Davis was given the task of collecting evidence discovered at the burn pit. During the search of the burn pit area, Davis took soil samples that showed charred pieces in the soil.
The prosecution asked Davis if the bone fragments, key, and button found in the search could be prehistorical and he said: “no it was not prehistorical and it was forensic.” He also said the condition of the bones indicated that a significant fire had burned the bones.
During the cross-examination, the defense asked Davis if the bones they found were not Bonnie Woodward's and he said out of all the bones found only a few were inconclusive. He indicated the other ones were so badly burned that they couldn't get DNA of them but they were human remains.
The defense also asked Davis if there is an error rate during DNA testing and he said: "not really."
The prosecution then called Dr. Alex Wiedenhoft to the stand. He said on April 25, 2018, the Jersey County State’s Attorney's Office called him and asked for help. He is an expert in tree analysis.
The State's Attorney Office sent him three rings of the tree that was possibly burned during the big fire.
Alex analyzed the rings and determined that sometime in 2010 something happened to the tree. It was consistent with fire. The prosecution indicated to the jury that it was around the same time Nathan testified that his dad set fire to Bonnie Woodward.
During the cross-examination, the defense asked if Alex could identify who started the fire that damaged the tree. Alex said no he couldn’t. The defense asked if Nathan could have started the fire and he said he had no idea who started the fire, but concluded the tree was damaged around 2010.
That was the end of testimony today and the trial will resume Friday morning at 8:00 a.m.
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